Stackable chair



Dec. 13, 1966 A. F. KRUEGER STACKABLE CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Nov. 16, 1959 De@ 13, 1966 A. F. KRUEGER 3,291,523

STACKABLE CHAIR Original Filed Nov. 16, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

United States Patent C) i' 3,291,523 STACKAELE CHAIR Allison F. Krueger, 226 Miramar Drive, Groen Bay, Wis. Continuation of application Ser. No. 853,412, Nov. 16, 1959. This application Sept. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 487,818 Claims. (Cl. 297-239) This application is a continuation of my co-pending application 853,412, filed November 16, 1959, and now abandoned.

My inventioin relates to seating equipment and includes among its objects and advantages, increased comfort for the individual occupant; convenient and effective stacking in small space without folding the chairs; and convenient assembly in transverse rows with effective rigidity, or free for pivotal adjustment.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a top view of a chair including the novel features of invention.

FiG. 2 is a front elevation of the saine chair.

FIG. 3 is a partial section on line 3 3 of FIG. l.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlargement of part of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of the interengaged corresponding legs of two stacked chairs.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail view of the leg portions of two connected chairs as viewed from the plane indicated at 6--6 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a detail on line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

In the embodiment selected to illustrate the invention, the seat 10 and back 12 are one integral piece of Fiberglas. The back is illustrated with an aperture 14 for coolness. As best indicated in FIG. 3, the seat 10 has four bosses 16 in which are embedded the heads of studs 18. Each stud receives first, a thick rubber washer 20; then the end of a steel strap 22; then a lock washer 24; and finally a fastening nut 26.

The straps 22 are welded at 28 near their front ends to the cross piece 30 of the front leg unit and again at 32 near their rear ends to the cross piece 34 of the rear leg unit. The front cross piece 30 has a curved portion 36 at each end, and continues integrally in the front legs 38. The rear cross piece 34 carries substantially identical legs 40.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, each front leg 38 is braced to the rear leg 40 on the same side by a tension brace 42 located labout one-third of the Way down from the strap 22 to the floor level at 44. that the two side braces 42, and the top straps 22, unite the two leg units into a complete and substantially rigid metal frame of ample strength to carry the weight of the occupant, Furthermore, the back member 12 has a fairly low flat top at 46 and the combined resilience of the frame is such that when an adult of normal weight, who may have been leaning forward a little, lets the torso fall back suddenly against the back, the back can yield from 1A: to 1/2 under the impact and there is not the abrupt shock that customarily results from such a maneuver. The resilience necessary to accomplish this may be about 10% in the steel frame up to the washers 20 and about 80% in the washers and about 10% in the material of the back and seat. Whatever the distribution may be, this slight cushioning action is a definite cornfort to the user and is slightly more effective because the dat portion at 46 leaves the upper edge of the back 12 just below the shoulder blades of the user, where there is ia little additional cushioning in the anatomy of the user. It will be obvious that with effective lock washers 24, it is possible to vary the initial compression on the washers 20, and adjust the amount of this yielding over a relatively small range that is nevertheless material It will be apparent' 3,291,523 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 in adapting the chair to the needs of the occupant in cases where the same chair is regularly -occupied by the same person.

Stacking While a rigid chair that cannot be folded up can be made much more comfortable for the occupant, the problem of storage becomes a serious one, when a large auditorium is to be provided with chairs :and the chairs must be removed from time to time to permit other uses for the fioor space. According to the invention, the chairs are all alike and so shaped that one can be superposed on the other, facing in the same direction and only slightly higher up. This involves some care in the contour of the seat and back member. In the common adult size, such a `chair as that disclosed can be superposed on an identical chair with the superposed chair only three inches above the chair resting on the floor. This permits a dozen chairs to -be successively stacked one upon another, with the total height of the stack only 33" more than the height of the chair resting on the floor.

Each cross brace 42 is a sheet metal plate with its opposite ends Wrapped into contact with the associated leg over an are of about at 50, and welded to the leg. Each tension brace has a centrally located window 48, and part of the metal struck out to form this window is bent out of the plane of the body of the -brace 42 and toward the center of the chair, being folded back at 52 and then curved through about of arc to define a trough 54, which rides directly on the leg of the chair below. The spacing of the trough 54 is such that each chair is held three inches above the chair below. The inner contact surface of the trough 54 is faced with a thin layer of suitable contact material 55, such as felt adhered to the metal, or a thin layer vinyl plastic, or the like.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 5, each leg is provided at its lower end with a generally conventional contact foot 56, but if the foot is made of slightly greater horizontal extent than is customary, it will extend over, as best indicated in FIG. 6, almost or entirely into contact with the lower leg member on the next chair below. The combination of this abutment, and the engagement of the shoes 54 near the top of the side frame structure provides an exceptionally stable stack. However, if the feet 56 are of the relatively small customary size, they will still be quite close to the leg of the chair below, at a point remote from the upper engagement with the shoes 54, and the deviation from true vertical alignment will still be positively limited to a value small enough so that the stack is entirely satisfactory as well as extremely quiet. If it happens to be jostled, there will be no rattling unless the stack is close to another stack and one stack is pushed against an adjacent stack.

The angularity of the legs is such that upward removal of a superposed chair will not exert undesired lifting force on the chair below. The inclination illustrated has an angle with the vertical having a cotangent of substantially 2.2, and therefore the thrust force pressing the shoe 54 against the supporting leg is 2.2 times the weight carried by the Washer 20 at that corner.

Gangz'ng In many instances, chairs of the type described are used with each chair individually placed, and no mechanical connection between any chair and an adjacent chair. However, it is desirable also to be able to arrange them in parallel rows and keep them in parallel alignment so that the combined assembly of several chairs can approximate the functioning of the conventional pew in a church. Such a ganged row of chairs not only maintains the alignment of all the individual chairs in the row, but because the legs 38 and 40 extend laterally farther than the seat members 10, it is possible and convenient to fasten themtogether in such a way that the suitable transverse spacing commonly employed in permanently assembled theater' seats, and the like, can prevail whenever the chairs are ganged, At the same time, there is an open space be-` tween each seat and the adjoining seat, and that space isi wide enough to permit free circulation of air and reason able separation between persons of ordinary size occupy--y ing the chairs.

Each of the tension braces 42 is desirably stiffened byv a full edge roll 58 along its upper edge and a similar roll 60 along its lower edge. Each roll ends diagonally as: indicated at 62 in FIG. 6, close to the wel-d fastening the end of the brace to the adjacent leg. By suitable pro-- portioning, the lateral offset between the side edges of. the seat and the plane of the legs, plus the offset between the legs of adjacent chairs that will remain whenthe rolls 58 and 60 on adjacent chairs are drawn into abutment, as indicated in FIGURE 6, mechanical connection is provided to maintain the desired seat spacing.

To hold the parts in the assembled relationship of FIG. 6, I provide a simple pivoted latch 64 encircling each leg on one side of each chair, and all the chairs have the hooks on the same side, for instance, the left side when looking from the rear toward the front (see FIG. 6). The latch includes the circular portion 66 to guide its movement on the leg which carries it, and the other end has a conventional spring hook 68 adapted to snap over the leg of the adjacent chair into the locked position indicated in FIG. 6. In this condition of assembly, the tension connections 64 at both ends of the tension brace 4Z keep the rolls 58 and 60 pressed positively against each other, so that the two chairs will stay in alignment on the floor. It happens also that the size of the enlarged feet 56 may be so dimensioned that these feet will also be substantially in abutment to increase the effectiveness of the lateral connection.

Others may readily adapt the invention for use under various conditions of service by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed, or equivalents thereof. It will, for instance, be obvious that a tension connector having hooks 68 on both ends, could be slipped over the adjacent front legs of two chairs just above the feet 56, and leave the chairs free to rotate a little for arranging several chairs in circular configuration.

As at present advised, with respect to the scope of my invention, I desire to claim the following subject matter.

I claim:

1. A chair stackable with like chairs and comprising a seat, a supporting frame provided at each side of the chair in positions laterally offset from the seat with a pair of respectively forwardly and rearwardly inclined legs, a generally horizontal brace at each side of the chair directly attached to the legs, each brace having contact members positioned thereon in longitudinally spaced positions adjacent the legs and spaced from said legs to which the brace is attached, said members being connected solely with the brace, independently of either of said legs, and projecting from the brace in positions to engage the upper surfaces of the corresponding legs `of a like chair on which the chair aforesaid is stacked.

2. A chair according to claim 1 in which the said members are integral component parts of the brace, each such member being concave in a horizontal plane and having a contour complementary to that of the adjacent leg whereby to embrace the corresponding leg of a like chair.

3. A chair stackable with like chairs and comprising a seat, a supporting frame provided at each side of the chair in positions laterally offset from the seat with a pair of respectively forwardly and rearwardly inclined legs, a

generally horizontal brace at each side of the chair directly attached to the legs, each brace having contact members positioned thereon in longitudinally spaced positions adjacent and respectively spaced from the legs to which the brace is attached, each brace comprising a plate having substantial vertical extent and connected to the front and rear legs at the sides thereof in a position offset from the medial plane of such legs and the contact members being lugs struck from the plate and extending therefrom into the plane of the legs.

4. A chair stackable `with like chairs and comprising a seat, a supporting frame provided at each side of the chair in positions laterally offset from the seat with a pair of respectively forwardly and rearwardly inclined legs, a generally horizontal brace at each side of the chair directly attached to the legs, each brace having contact members positioned thereon in longitudinally spaced positions adjacent and respectively spaced from the legs to which the brace is attached, each brace comprising a plate having substantial vertical extent and connected to the front and rear legs at the sides thereof ina position offset from the medial plane of such legs and the contact members being lugs struck from the plate and extending therefrom into the plane of the legs, each brace including an outwardly projecting abutment having an extent from the brace equal to approximately one-half of the desired lateral spacing between chairs when the chairs are arranged side by side, and tension members pivoted on the front and rear legs of each chair and having resilient terminal hooks adapted to snap over the legs of an adjacent chair at the lateral spacing determined by said abutment.

5. A chair adapted to be stacked with like chairs and comprising the combination with a seat, of a seat-supporting frame comprising U-shaped forward and rearward members and means connecting such members beneath the seat, the lower ends of the U-shaped members providing at each side of the chair, and in positions laterally offset from the seat, two pairs of legs each including one leg inclined downwardly and rearwardly and another leg inclined downwardly and forwardly, brace plates directly connected to the sides of the legs of the respective pairs, each such plate having an opening intermediate the legs and intermediate its top and bottom margins and further having integral lugs struck from the material of the plate adjacent said openings, said lugs projecting from the respective plates toward the plane in which adjacent portions of the legs connected by the plates are disposed, the lugs being free from such legs and having concave portions directed away from the respective legs and adapted to receive external surfaces of the corresponding legs of a like chair upon which the aforesaid chair is stacked.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 182,790 5/1958 Cohen 15-1 1,825,055 9/ 1931 De Bretteville 297-217 1,825,368 9/1931 Scully 297-239 2,688,357 9/1954 Towne 297-248 2,694,614 11/1954 Dent 108-64 2,893,469 7/1959 Eames 297-239 2,895,540 7/ 1959 Mackintosh 297-239 2,925,123 2/ 1960 Morgan 297-162 3,018,131 1/1962 Krueger 297-248 FOREIGN PATENTS 601,889 5/ 1948 Great Britain.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Examiner. 

1. A CHAIR STACKABLE WITH LIKE CHAIRS AND COMPRISING A SEAT, A SUPPORTING FRAME PROVIDED AT EACH SIDE OF THE CHAIR IN POSITIONS LATERALLY OFFSET FROM THE SEAT WITH A PAIR OF RESPECTIVELY FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY INCLINED LEGS, A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL BRACE AT EACH SIDE OF THE CHAIR DIRECTLY ATTACHED TO THE LEGS, EACH BRACE HAVING CONTACT MEMBERS POSITIONED THEREON IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACED POSITIONS ADJACENT THE LEGS AND SPACED FROM SAID LEGS TO WHICH THE BRACE IS ATTACHED, SAID MEMBERS BEING CONNECTED SOLELY WITH THE BRACE, INDEPENDENTLY OF EITHER OF SAID LEGS, AND PROJECTING FROM THE BRACE IN POSITIONS TO ENGAGE THE UPPER SURFACES OF THE CORRESPONDING LEGS OF A LIKE CHAIR ON WHICH THE CHAIR AFORESAID IS STACKED. 